2015 Keynote speakers

Mr Ashraf A Hakim, Director international organization, EGYPTAIR

Ashraf Al Sayad assumed his current position in 2008 after serving as EGYPTAIR district manager in Tunisia and in Osaka, Japan 2004 - 2008. He joined EGYPTAIR in 1985 tourism division, in 1995 he was appointed as EGYPTAIR/ Tourism division area manager based in Singapore promoting incoming tourism...

Mr Deon Cloete, General Manager: Cape Town International Airport, Airports Company South Africa

Deon Cloete holds two degrees; a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and a Master’s Degree in Business Leadership, both from the University of South Africa. He has 28 years’ experience in the airport and aviation industry; his extensive experience is further enhanced by having served in the fields of...

Terence Delomoney, GM: King Shaka International, Airports Company South Africa

Terence was appointed General Manager at Durban International (now King Shaka International) and National Airports on 1 August 2008. He is a Charted Accountant by profession and obtained his Post-Graduate Degree in Accounting from the University of Durban Westville in 1989 and obtained entrance to...

Mr James Geldenhuys, Head: Aircraft Finance, Nedbank Capital

James Geldenhuys, head of Nedbank Capital’s Aircraft Finance business unit, has 30 years’ experience in the South African banking business. He has spent the last 22 years working in structured finance and has held senior structured finance positions at both ABSA and Nedbank, with particular...

Tamur Goudarzi-PourVice President Sales and Services Middle East, Africa & Southeast EuropeTamur Goudarzi Pour (45) is the Vice President, Sales and Services for Middle East, Africa & Southeast Europe for Lufthansa German Airlines, based in Dubai since May 2014. He is leading one of...

Mr Rene Gsponer, Ag. Managing Director, Air Namibia

29 years of International Airline ExpierenceProven ability to establish a vision, create organisations, and lead teams to deliver improvements in quality, reliability, cost, and customer satisfaction. I have 29 years of international experience in a wide range of airline fields including: airline...

Mrs Gaborekwe Esther Khambule, , South African Weather Service

Gaborekwe (Gabo) Esther Khambule, a meteorologist, National head of aeronautical weather forecast in SAWS. Non-executive director with South African National Space Agency. She served as aviation, marine and public forecaster. She managed the technology, infrastructure and maintenance unit for a...

Mr Ndabo Khoza, Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Kwazulu-Natal

Having been appointed as Chief Operating Officer for two years and Acting CEO for nine months for Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN), Ndabo Khoza was appointed as TKZN CEO in 2007.Khoza, who was born and educated in Durban, graduated from the University of Zululand with a B.Com (Accounting) degree in...

Mr Richard Kyereh, Marketing Manager, Antrak Air

Richard Kwabena Kyereh holds an MBA in project Management from Ghana Institute of Management and Professional Studies (GIMPA). A consummate member of Project Management Institute, USA, and Projects Consultant to Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU – Eastern Region). He is an aviation...

Miguel was born in Lisboa, Portugal. He moved to Luanda, Angola, in early 1959. There he completed his pre-college education as well as two-years of college in Geological Sciences while working for the National Weather Bureau and obtaining his private pilot’s license. He attended the University...

Mr Skhumbuzo Macozoma, Chairperson, Airports Company South Africa

Serving on the Airports Company South Africa Board from 1 March 2012, Skhumbuzo Macozoma was appointed Non-Executive Chairperson of Airports Company South Africa as of 1 March 2015.He is currently the managing director of the Johannesburg Roads Agency. He was the executive of strategic business at...

Mr Tleli Makhetha, General Manager, South African Airways Cargo

Tleli MakhethaSAA Cargo: General ManagerTleli Makhetha, General Manager of SAA Cargo took up the position in 2010 after a previous stint in the position up to 2004. He is responsible for the management of SAA’s cargo business globally. He is a member of the SAA Executive Committee and he has served ...

Bongiwe Mbomvu, Group Executive: Governance and Assurance, Airports Company South Africa

Bongiwe Mbomvu joined Airports Company South Africa in 2013, and was appointed Group Executive: Governance and Assurance. Bongiwe has a Bachelor of Social Science, Bachelor of Law (LLB) and Master of Law (LLM) from the University of Cape Town. She started working at Old Mutual as a legal adviser...

Tebogo started his career at Airports Company South Africa as a Mechanical Maintenance Engineer in 2000 at the then Johannesburg International Airport in the Maintenance and Engineering environment. During his 14-year tenure with the Company, Tebogo has held various positions, including Airport...

Have more than 30 years of hard core airline top management experience in all areas of the Airline business. Presently General Manager-India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh for AirAsia involved in the International operations of the airline in this region. Has been with AirAsia since 2009 with the...

Mr Elvis Ndomo, Head of Revenue, Precision Air Service Plc

Elvis Ndomo is a Business Administration professional and a Revenue Management expert with an excellent track record of over 13 years in the airline industry. He majored in Management Science for his undergraduate degree. Elvis joined the world of commercial aviation 14 years ago as an analyst in...

Mr Won Park, Director: International Relations, Incheon International Airport

Won S. Park has been the director of International Relations Team of Incheon International AirPort Corporation since March 2012. His role involves cooperating with international organizations including ICAO, ACI, and IATA, concluding collaboration agreement with overseas airports, as well as...

Mr Dirshen Pillay, Commodity Trader, Nedbank Capital

Dirshen Pillay has worked in the commodity trading environment for 8 years and currently manages the trading desk at Nedbank capital. Although experienced in other asset classes and roles when he first joined Nedbank Capital, Dirshen soon specialised in the commodity field particularly trading and ...

Mr Gregory Pomerantsev, Chairman of the board, LIVE RIGA

Gregory Pomerantsev is a Managing Partner of the aviation consultancy group "ALMA Avia Solutions" and a Chairman of the Board of Riga Tourism Development Bureau (LIVE RIGA). Founded in 2009 by four shareholders - Riga City Council, AirBaltic airline, the Latvian Hotel and Restaurant...

Mr Zakhele Thwala, Deputy Director-General: Civil Aviation, DoT

Mr. Zakhele Gilbert Thwala is the current Deputy Director General: Civil Aviation at the Department of Transport. His career in Aviation began when an opportunity arose in 1988, for pilot training in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, under the auspices of United Nations Development Agency (UNDP) at Ethiopian ...

Juan van Rensburg is the Chief Executive Officer for Aviation Co-ordination Services (ACS). The organization was formed in 1999 by the Airline Association of South Africa (AASA), the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa (BARSA) and the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) to provide ...

Mr Erik Rudolf Venter, Chief Executive Officer, Comair Limited

Erik joined Comair in 1996 as Financial Manager, and has held various positions within the company including Commercial Manager; Commercial Director and Financial Director. In July of 2006 Erik was appointed as Joint CEO of Comair and served in this position until December 2011 when he assumed...

Mr Andre Vermeulen, Group Executive: Airports, Airports Company South Africa

Andre joined Airports Company South Africa as an Engineer-in-Training in 1995 based at the then Johannesburg International Airport, progressing to ultimately lead the Maintenance and Engineering Department at the airport in 2001. In 2005, Andre was appointed for the challenging role of Group...

Nicky Weimar has been Nedbank’s Senior Economist since 2000. She received her Masters in Economics from the University of Stellenbosch in 1994 and soon advised government on economic procedures and policies in her capacity as an economist in the Central Economic Advisory Service, since integrated...

Mr Sudeep Ghai, Managing Partner, Athena Aviation

Sudeep Ghai is the Managing Partner of Athena Aviation and specialises in airline strategy, greenfield start-up and commercial turnaround. Athena Aviation is a consulting firm made up a group of practical airline experts who average 23 years in senior line management roles. Our team has worked for...

Mr Anthony Irwin, Managing Director, ProFlight - Zambia

Proflight Zambia is a scheduled airline operating to 9 domestic destinations and 2 regional. Proflight was founded in 1991 as a charter company by ex Zambia Airways pilot, Tony Irwin. The airline’s routes are in tourism and private charters but in 2004 Proflight commenced schedule operations with ...

Mr Sandile Maphanga, Manager: Central Airspace Management Unit, ATNS

Career overviewo Joined ATNS in 1996 as an Air Traffic Services Assistanto Aerodrome Controller (ATCO1) in 1997o App/ACC Controller (ATCO3) in 2000o Joined the Central Airspace Management Unit (CAMU) in 2006 as an Air Traffic Flow Management Specialist (ATFMS)o Appointed Pool...

Mr Maximiliano Vicini, Commercial Manager, KIU System Solutions

Maximiliano Vicini - BIO Maximiliano is a highly skilled senior professional with more than 15 years of experience in different positions and roles in the Airline & Tourism industries. Mainly focus in the Travel and Airline IT business, as well as airport operations & commercial...

Ms Poppy Khoza has over 15 years’ experience in the field of aviation and now holds the position of the Director of Civil Aviation, having worked in various management portfolios. She has over 10 years’ experience in senior management with her academic progression being largely in strategic...

Mr Guy Leitch, Editor & Publisher, SA Flyer Magazine

Guy Leitch was born in England but grew up in South Africa. He has a Masters Degree in Development Finance and is a pilot with night and multi-engine ratings.Guy has had a number of different careers. The first involved developing Housing Finance policy for NGOs and private sector housing...

Mr Aziz Rattansey, Head of Risk Management & Controls, Air Uganda

Aziz Rattansey is the Ag. CFO & the Head of Risk Management & Controls at Air Uganda, the quasi-national carrier of Uganda, since mid-2014 and January 2013 respectively. Aziz has more than 20 years of professional work experience across different sectors [international emergency...

Dumisani Sangweni, Executive - CEO Office, ATNS

Dumisani SangweniExecutive in the Office of the CEOMr Sangweni has more than 15 years’ experience in the airline sector, transport sector and broader corporate and public sectors at the levels of business analyst, consulting and executive management. He was appointed Managing Director and CEO of...

Dr John Tambi, Transport Infrastructure Expert, NEPAD Secretariat

Dr. John E. TambiTransport Infrastructure Expert and Coordinator For the Presidential Infrastructure Champion InitiativeNEPAD Planning and Co-ordinating Agency (NPCA)Dr John E. Tambi is a transport infrastructure expert with more than 30 years of project...

Mrs Tabassum Qadir, Co-Chairperson, Skywise Airline

Ms Tabassum Qadir’s Brief:Co-Chairperson of Skywise Airline and CEO of parent company PAK Africa Aviation & Group. A dynamic female leader with a background in diversified business operations in Africa, she is passionate about the airline industry. Co-founded Skywise Airline in 2013. Has more...

BIO of Zachary SteglinZachary Steglin is the Network Performance Manager with the organisation Global Load Control, a wholly owned South African subsidiary of Lufthansa AG, fulfilling a cross functional role for the organisation in monitoring and controlling activities towards the strategic...

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